Push
by CatchTheRainbow
Summary: Dez was upset and he needed a friend. But Trish not exactly knowing what to do accidentally made it worse. What happens when a fight between these two isn't as petty as it usually is? Did Dez Fisher actually punch a wall? Did Trish De La Rosa actually start crying? Trish/Dez. Requested by TheRightWrongs!
1. Part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own the show Austin & Ally or it's characters, as you might have guessed already lol.**

**-This idea was requested by TheRightWrongs. I think I may have altered it a little from what you requested, I realise this now...oops. Sorry this took so long to be posted and I hope you find that it's to your liking. I apologise HUGELY in advance if it isn't haha.**

**Warning:** This is pretty angsty if do say so myself. I usually like to write things more on the humorous side as I'm sure a few of you may know.

**Author's Note: **Okay, I wasn't sure how to write something like this without Trish and Dez being slightly OOC...and so for the plot of this story I guess you can consider them being out of character. I really did tried to avoid it, but how else was this story going to be accomplished? And hey, I'm not the best writer in the world or anything. I did however add in certain little quirks that I guess is expected of them so I hope you all like it anyway. This was originally a one shot but it was VERY long (9000+ words!) and it seemed to break better at a certain point which you'll find out about once you read it lol. So I split it into a two shot.

I apologise for typos/grammar mistakes in advance. Enjoy!

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**Push - Part 1**

It was another hot day in Miami, but of course it just so happened to be one of those rare days where Dez wasn't exactly in the_ best_ of moods.

Usually, he didn't let negative things get to him so easily because it was just second nature to his personality. And if he did, he wasn't ashamed to cry about it. But today was just going too badly for him not to feel even the teeniest ounce of anger - crying be damned.

His turtle, Gary had died overnight in what must have been in his sleep. He'd been around so long that Dez had even begun to believe that the turtle would go away with him to college and to maybe even see the world. Gary had been there before he'd even realised he was into directing and film making; a seventh birthday present and probably the best one he'd ever gotten to date.

That turtle had become the second friend he'd made in this world, (right after his best friend Austin Moon of course.)

And as if things couldn't get any worse that fateful morning, he'd then found out that his favourite cereal had run out after eventually forcing himself to come downstairs for breakfast with slightly teary eyes. He'd been hoping that the sugary sweetness of 'Lucky Charms' would lift his mood maybe even a little bit...but no, it looked like that wasn't going to be the case.

The last straw however, had come in the form of the latest Zalien movie video game's release date being pushed back another two months after the decision from the makers was announced that same morning. He could've handled days - heck maybe even weeks...but _months?!_ The news caused a slight rage in his body to erupt that he didn't even know existed.

Although horrible, the day passed by quickly. He hadn't seen his friends for the most of it, but it wasn't like he had been avoiding them or anything. It was just a mere coincidence that they hadn't been in his presence in the past twenty-four hours. In fact, more than anything Dez wanted - no needed to speak to Austin especially about the Gary situation. If anyone was to understand his pain it would be his best friend.

He walked into the 'Sonic Boom' with an uncharacteristic frown on his face, and with the expected bounce out of his step. His tall frame was hunched over slightly and his eyes were trained on the ground beneath his feet as he walked straight over to the counter his other friend Ally's presence would usually be occupying. Annoyingly however neither Ally or Austin were in sight - in fact, no one was in the store at all. He was certain Austin would've been here, and if that wasn't the case (which it now actually was) Ally would have been, thus choosing her as his second option as a person he could to talk to. She was nice after all and unlike most people, she took the time to listen to him.

That only left one other person, who although wasn't exactly her meanest to him anymore, was still somewhat scary to approach...

Ha, who was he kidding? She very scary to approach.

The relationship between him and Trish De La Rosa was a weird and complicated one. They had been frenemies for a long period of time after they had met that fateful day in Austin's room of all places, but as of recently the arguments between the two of them had calmed down. Now, they were laughing and hi-fiving with each other more than anything. And If he were honest, he was now beginning to form the smallest of crushes on her, now that he knew she was capable of smiling at him without it looking threatening. She was even now complimenting him from time to time, and when she laughed at something he said his heart couldn't help but swell with pride and flutter with happiness. Plus, it didn't help that she was probably one of the prettiest girls he knew.

...So okay, maybe it was more than just a teeny crush.

Putting his feelings aside, he quickly decided that maybe he didn't have to be scared of talking to her. They were friends now right? And friends helped each other in these certain situations. He would certainly help her if she needed a shoulder to cry on...but like that was ever going to happen anyway. Trish was as tough as three-hundred pound rock.

"Hey, Red, have you seen Austin or Ally?" It must've been fate, for she was suddenly standing right behind him after he had been thinking about her for all of five minutes. He turned around slowly to face her, staring at her for a few moments and taking in her usually curly mane of hair tamed back with a hairband and her vibrant coloured outfit. He couldn't help but notice that she looked rather pretty today, just like she had the day before, and that thoughts like this were starting to become more and more frequent as the weeks went by.

What on earth was wrong with him? He needed to get a grip. He may have had slightly more than friendly feelings towards her but she was still Trish. She would probably kick him where the sun didn't shine if she found out.

"Uh..." He was dumbstruck for a few seconds, scratching the back of his head before he answered. "I, uh, I don't know. Probably up in the practice room working on a song or something. The door's closed up there, see?" She turned briefly to look in the direction he was pointing in before turning to face him again.

"Oh, right." Trish paused, ready to ask why he was standing alone in the store like a lost puppy before she stopped herself and studied him for a moment. Usually she wouldn't notice if Dez was acting weird or not because well, he was always weird. But right at that minute he wasn't acting weird in his usual refreshing sort of way. Instead the unusual sight of a frown on his face was deepening by the second and his eyes weren't as vibrant blue as they usually were. He was fiddling with his hands in front of him, and he wouldn't even look at her directly in the eye.

Something was definitely wrong.

She was at first not sure if she should ask, his problems were usually based around something really stupid that he got over in ten minutes or less. But the fact that he wasn't crying about said problem is what caused the slight worry inside of her chest. He cried whenever he was upset about something and the usual "get over it freckles" from her is what got him to snap out of it. But she was more than sure that wouldn't work this time, for his eyes were red around the rings and they looked as though they held a more serious problem in there depths.

She wasn't going to lie to herself, she cared about the red-headed freak standing in front of her with his eyes downcast. It bothered her when he was upset usually - not that she would admit that under any circumstances of course - but today it was bothering her even more. She was beginning to consider him her friend now, and as his friend...it probably was her duty to see what was wrong.

"Okay, what's up with you? You're acting...well not you for once." She eventually asked, after several silent minutes of complementing if she should do so. She eyed him curiously, and Dez snapped his head up to look at her, catching her stare. All the while he didn't do much to cover up his sad demeanour.

"I-I...well nothing." Trish continued to watch him as he coward under her scrutiny and looked away. He bit his lip as if he were about to cry, and was trying very hard not to burst into tears right then and there. He never tried to hide his tears from anyone, and that meant this must have been something a little more serious than the fro-yo store at the mall running out of banana twirl flavour or something. His face was doing something to her heart, something weird that it never did for anyone.

It ached for him, as if his sadness was affecting her too.

At this realization she felt a small panic rise within her. What did she do? She didn't like feeling this way about Dez of all people but it was like the matter couldn't be helped...and that scared her. Also, there was the fact that even though she wanted to help, she wasn't good with consoling people in the first place. Unless it was Ally, and that was only because Ally was her best friend who knew her inside and out and so understood her weird, mean, way of consoling.

She didn't want to feel this way about him. She couldn't possibly harbour...feelings...for him right?

The thought alone rocked her to the core. The very possibility of her liking someone like Dez was out of the question. Her reputation would be in the trash instantly and there was no way she was going to let that happen. So she did the only thing she was capable of doing...she lashed out, even though it wasn't exactly willingly.

"Oh, well it's not like anything serious happens to you anyway right? You're Dez, it's not like you have any other emotions besides 'happy' and 'confused'." Her words prompted him to look back up at her for the second time since they'd been standing in the empty room, but this time with what looked like the beginnings of hurt swimming in his blue eyes as he processed what she had just said._ This_ look on his face made her feel...well, bad. But instead of stopping she kept on going - like she couldn't stop herself from doing more damage.

"What?" She said with a harmless shrug. A snide smile was on her face as she continued. "What _real_ problems do you have going on in your life? You're easily comparable to one of those crying baby dolls that are sad one minute and then happy the other." She wanted stop hurting him, really she did. She was cursing herself on the inside but her mouth was spewing out the words like word vomit.

"Let me guess, Mindy punched you in the arm for not getting her the right flowers and now you need Austin to kiss your boo boo better?" _SHUT UP TRISH!_ her brain told her. Why was she still talking? Dez just simply stared at her, as if the wind was suddenly knocked out of him. He was trying to fathom why was she saying these horrible things to him. They were supposed to friends now...weren't they?

"Trish why are you..." His voice was like a whisper as he trailed off not bothering to finish his sentence. But she heard how broken he sounded loud and clear, making her feel even worse. So tried to block out the feeling with the worst possible thing...more of her harsh words.

"Or maybe your turtle Gary 'ran away' and you've come here to ask for help to find him...when really he's just under your bed." She used air quotes around the word 'ran away' with her fingers and snorted before continuing "but of course, you didn't even realize that was even a possibility until I just said it because you have a brain the size of a roasted peanut." Trish saw something dark flash in his eyes then. He looked as if he'd stopped breathing and as if he didn't recognize the person in front of him who was saying all these mean things.

"Face it Dez," She finished off "You're basically the equivalent to a walking imbecile." The words were out before she could stop them, and even though she had willed herself not to...there was no way she could take them back now.

She watched as the last of her words triggered the sight in front of her. The previous hurt in Dez's eyes was slowly turning into an emotion Trish would've never imagined he even possessed. His clear blue eyes were suddenly cold, steely, as if he were trying to turn her into stone.

"And what emotion am I showing you now Trish?" His tone was frighteningly calm, and he was now standing up straighter as he looked down on her from his height with a less than friendly expression on his face. In fact, less than friendly would've been a _nice_ way of putting it actually.

"I...I um..." It was hard task to render Trish De La Rosa speechless, she had a comeback for pretty much everything. But how could she say anything at all when her heart was suddenly beating faster than what would be considered humanly normal out of panic. Or when something was rapidly sinking lower in her stomach.

"So what, you're out of words now? Hm, strange but hey I guess I'll just tell you then." His cold stare intensified with every word he spoke. "This is _hurt_ Trish. Hurt that after almost two years of knowing each other, you still seem to think that saying stuff like this to me is okay." She tried to speak, but the lone fact that Dez wasn't being his usual 'goofball' self was keeping her mute. The chill tone of his voice could probably freeze the local beach's ocean.

"You want to know what's really up? Why I'm not being my usual _imbecile_ self?" She winced visibly at her choice of words being thrown back at her.

"Well guess what? Gary, the turtle who you seem to think ran away died this morning." And just like that she felt like a grade A bitch. She knew how much that turtle meant to him really and she'd used it to taunt him. She would probably put even Mindy to shame with this show of evilness, and for once the thought of beating her at something didn't make her feel happy.

"Dez...I..." She started but didn't finish, so Dez continued on, too angry at this point to really hear her out anyway.

"I've had him since I was seven. He was one of the only few friends I've ever had and I woke up this morning to find he was lying in his little tank, lifeless." His tone was still not letting up, and he was visibly getting angrier as the moments passed by.

"I..."

"I tried to block it out you know? Take my mind off of it so I wouldn't feel so sad, but to make things worse, we ran out of Lucky Charms and I had to settle for _cornflakes_. I hate that cereal but I ate them anyway so that my mom wouldn't be upset. She has a lot on her plate, having to deal with someone as weird as me everyday." He glanced away from her for a second before looking back at her again. He looked as if he'd aged slightly, as if the gullible, happy Dez she'd always known had vanished into thin air and didn't even really exist.

"Oh and if that's not already bad enough, I found out that the new Zalien game is not out for another two months. That was the one thing left that I knew would be able to cheer me up in maybe even the slightest bit and...I can't even have that." Trish could feel the guilt swirling around in the pit of her stomach as she stared at him wordlessly. There was a tense pause before he spoke up again.

"But then I thought wait a minute, I have friends. Friends who would support me through things like this. And sure he was just a turtle but..." His voice trailed off for a few moments before saying the last of his sentence "He was important to me." He sounded broken once again, like the anger had drained out of him and all that was left was sadness. His blue eyes never wavered from hers as she looked back at him helplessly. She felt like crud but what was she meant to say now? He spoke up before she could stammer something else.

"I needed a friend. Austin and Ally weren't here but you were...and I-I thought were friends now. That we'd, you know, moved passed the whole arguing all the time and you hitting me unnecessarily hard thing...but I guess not. Maybe we never have."

"Dez..." Trish finally cut in quietly. The disappointment mixed with defeat in his gaze towards her was gradually making her feel _even worse_ - and as if that was even possible at this point. She realized in that moment that she really had to say something meaningful now, that she had to bite back her pride this one time for him to understand she didn't mean to hurt him.

"I'm...I'm sorry." It took a lot to render her speechless, but it took even more to get her to apologise. He had to know that, and he had to know that she really meant it. She was never one to admit mushy stuff like this unless she was with Ally...but she really did value his friendship and that's why she was swallowing up her dignity.

Dez didn't say anything. He stared at her for quite a while, noting that in the all the time that he'd known her she rarely apologised for her actions. But he was really hurt this time, and not like when she insulted his shoes. This was probably ten times worse in comparison. He moved his eyes to the floor as he said his next words, and they were to hurt her more than this whole entire conversation combined.

"Yeah, you might be sorry for a few minutes after this conversation...but let's face it Trish, you're not _really_ sorry are you? And why? Because your heart is probably made of nothing but stone."

Silence. Nothing but tense, brooding silence.

Dez knew that as soon as he'd said the words, he regretted them. He knew deep down that she really was sorry and that she probably hadn't meant to actually offend him. He was naive and gullible at times but he wasn't stupid. He understood that it was just in her nature to act this way automatically, and that's what made her the Trish he knew and was beginning to more than just occasionally get along with. However, that didn't dispute the fact that he was tired of her picking on him altogether. And even now when he was clearly upset she didn't seem to see any boundaries.

But when he looked up at her and saw the shock and devastation on her face almost all his anger towards her evaporated into thin air. Her pretty brown eyes were wide with despair, and the longer she stared at him, the more glazed over her pupils were rapidly becoming. She had even reeled back as if she had been slapped in the face and once realizing this he immediately felt like the biggest jerk in the world. He shut his eyes tightly in disdain for a few short seconds before speaking up.

"Trish I didn't...I didn't mean -"

"No it's fine." She cut him off abruptly. Her voice sounded shaky, and he could've just been being delusional because this was something she'd never done in all the time he'd known her, but it sounded like her voice was thick with what could possibly be...tears.

As if she were on the verge of crying.

And then just like that, her eyes - though still shiny - were suddenly the cold ones, masking her hurt like a shield. It had to be the iciest look she had ever given him, and he had been previously so sure he was immune to her glares by now. He could even feel the chill run down his spine.

"You're right I guess." She continued in the same shaky tone. "I'm always mean to you, what would you expect from such a _cold_ and_ heartless_ person like me?" Trish could feel her resolve disappearing. Her tears were threatening to spill over and she would rather die on the spot than cry in front of Dez. Heck, she'd known Ally since kindergarten and the brunette had only seen her cry once after she'd broken her arm in the first grade.

It was Dez's turn to visibly wince, and he did so after hearing the way she had said the words 'cold' and 'heartless'. At this point there was definitely water visible in her eyes now and the fact that he had caused it to come to a front in the first place almost made him want to cry again himself.

"You're...you're not those things," He tried, his voice weak now. "I was just -"

"No, it's okay I know what you were doing Dez. You were just speaking the truth and I can't blame you for that." Her humourless laugh was accompanied with what was meant to be a non committal shrug. He had never heard her laugh in such a way, and this one definitely didn't give him the happy feeling it usually did. She began to slowly back away from him; gradually getting closer to what was used as both the entrance and the exit of the store. She stopped once she was right in front of the open gap, smirking at him in a way that wasn't meant to be taken in it's usual teasing context. There was another horribly long pause before she said anything else.

"It's just, well, if I'm honest with you I don't have that many friends either Dez. Only you, Austin and Ally really put up with my personality...and I'm grateful for that. But because I've always been the hardest on you..." Her smirk dropped altogether and she made sure to look directly into his eyes.

"I was always especially grateful to you." She said this quietly, but the words hit him like a ton of bricks. She may have hurt him, but he'd now truly hurt her too. He wanted to appease this, take that look off her face that was messing with her pretty features.

But before he could say anything else or even blink she was whizzing out the door, her posture rigid as she left him standing there alone and feeling like the day could not possibly get any worse than it already was.

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**Author's Note:** So there it is. I realize that angsty-ness was probably a bit..._much_ actually considering how happy this show really is and stuff, but I actually tried really hard on this. (Even though reading back over it all I see that it kind of sucks haha) The next, and final chapter will be posted tomorrow. Thanks for reading and if you think I deserve it please leave a review!


	2. Part 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the show Austin & Ally or it's characters, as you might have guessed already lol.**

**Author's Note: **Here is the second and FINAL chapter to this story. I am SO sorry that this is up way later than I said it would be but I actually have a legitimate reason as to why. The matter is discussed in the bottom 'author's note' if you care (which you probably don't lol.) Oh and just quickly, I would like thank the people who reviewed last time round. Your kind words made me smile and are always appreciated :) Anyway, enough of my mushy gratitude. On with the story!

I apologise in advance for any typos/grammatical errors. It's 6 AM right now (yes I'm crazy enough to stay up this long) and the screen is practically a blurry mess as I type this.

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**Push - Part 2**

Crying. Trish De La Rosa was actually _crying._

She had managed to get to the safety and privacy of her own room before she let the tears run down her cheeks freely. Though as quickly as they came she would swipe them away angrily. Angry over the fact that someone had managed to make her cry in the first place. And angry over the fact that of all people that someone had been Dez.

She'd probably ruined their friendship for good. Using the term 'friendship' loosely of course because they had only begun to really see each other as friends as of recently. How did she manage to always mess important things up? Yes, she was going to admit it - Dez's friendship was important to her. She'd realised that quite a while ago and now there might not even_ be_ a friendship. She let out a shaky breath as she continued to wipe away the tears that just wouldn't stop. She didn't like that this was getting to her so much. _Why_ was this getting to her so much?

_Because it's not just his friendship that's important to you, _her mind reasoned with her,_ HE's important to you._

And there it was again, the notion that made it seem as if she might care about him a little too much. As in...more than just a _friendly_ way.

But It couldn't be possible, she couldn't actually like Dez in_ that_ way. She'd spent a good portion of the time that she'd known him avoiding him, and now just because they were acknowledging the fact that they really were friends...that didn't mean she saw him as anything_ but_ a friend...right?

She could say yes, but then that wouldn't explain why recently she found herself thinking about him way more than the average person would think about Dez in a day anyway. Or why she was beginning to notice the way his hair sometimes fell nicely into his blue eyes. And he was able to make her laugh harder than many people had been able to accomplish in her entire lifetime; that was why she had begun being nicer to him in the first place.

Her mind wandered back to the way he had looked at her today, with the disappointment and the hurt too transparent for her to even want to ponder on. Unless you were Ally and maybe even Austin she wouldn't have cared. But instead she had really cared...cared so much that now she was crying.

She groaned as the realization officially dawned on her. That maybe she really did like Dez Fisher as more than just a friend, and that she had screwed that up before anything could even happen.

She didn't bother wiping the fresh tears that sprung to her eyes this time.

**-TXD-**

It had been twenty minutes since she'd left him standing there, alone in the Sonic Boom without another word and he had yet to move. Dez's eyes were fixated on the doorway she had exited from and they had been that way for so long that his vision was beginning to blur. His mind couldn't stop replaying the last few events that had occurred and every time his mind wandered back to the way her face had crumbled, the way her brown eyes had looked at him with such devastation he felt like bursting into tears.

What had he done? He definitely hadn't meant to go that far. He just wanted her to realise that he did have feelings, and that he wasn't just some just idiot who skipped around all day. Having her walk away from him so brokenly hadn't been part of his plan.

As if walking away from him for the last time.

That weird unsettling anger was building up inside him again. His fingers tensed and were suddenly balling into fists as his mind swirled with thoughts. What if he'd truly messed up what could've developed into a great friendship between them? And if he dared to dream, something even more? Would she start being even meaner than she was to him before now? Or even worse...not talk to him at all.

The mere thought of such a thing is what truly riled him up and what he did next was something beyond his control. His arm was suddenly raised in the air and thanks to his long legs, in two strides his fist was connecting with wall, causing a loud smack to be heard from the force. He barely registered the throbbing in his fingers as he dropped his arm back to his side. With his other hand he fisted his red hair in an agitated motion.

"Damn it." He murmured, shutting his eyes tightly as if to block out the pain he was feeling inside; even if just for a moment. He couldn't bare the thought of really losing her before she became his...anything.

After hearing all the commotion, Austin and Ally burst through the doors of the practice room, looking startled beyond belief. They had closed down the store because her dad was out of town, and so had not expected to be disturbed while rehearsing for his gig coming up.

"What is it? What's going on down - Dez?" Ally said, starting of sounding panicked but then finishing with concern when noticing from down below the staircase she was standing on, Dez was standing near the entrance of the store looking very distressed. His face was turned away from them, but she could tell something definitely wasn't right. He didn't seem to have heard her however, because he was still turned away from them as if they hadn't come out of the practice room at all.

Austin stared wordlessly at his friend, trying to figure out what could possibly have him this upset. Even after knowing Dez for so long it was still a foreign sight to see him anything else but delightfully happy. "Dez?" He offered, only this time it was heard by the person he was calling. "Are you okay?"

Dez stiffened slightly, upon hearing the voice of his best friend. He turned around without even thinking about it and immediately locked eyes with Austin and Ally in turn. He noticed the way their eyes widened and he knew it was probably from the expression on his face. He tried to quickly cover it up with a watery smile but the damage had already been done.

"H-hey guys," He said as pleasantly as he could. "I'm fine, really." Austin and Ally shared a worried glance before quickly running down the remainder of staircase to get to his side. Once that was done, Ally put a tentative hand to his skinny arm.

"You're not okay Dez." She said quietly, her eyes looking distraught from not knowing what was wrong. "Tell us what's wrong."

"I'm fine Ally." He directed his over exaggerated smile at her and Austin almost cringed. Dez was never the one to give out fake smiles often at all. They were always either genuine or he didn't bother to give you one. When Dez turned his gaze towards Austin, his attempt at keeping up a happy façade faltered almost instantly.

"I'm your best friend, Dez," Austin told him, keeping his eyes locked with Dez's. "You can't lie to me about something like this and think I won't notice." Dez's eyes eventually averted to the floor after not being able to take the intensity of Austin's stare. He was right, he couldn't lie to Austin without it being totally obvious - why did he even attempt to? After a moment of silence and a prompting from an arm squeeze courtesies of Ally, Dez finally spoke again.

"Trish and I got into a fight, but it was worse this time. I've just been angry and sad all day and then she made it worse and...and I think I said something that really hurt her." He bit his lip as he looked up from the floor and gazed across the room.

"She probably hates me." He whispered, "Like, truly hates me this time." Austin and Ally shared another worried look before Ally gently pulled him along by the arm she was already holding to the arrangements of benches over in the corner of the store. After they were all seated, Ally's voice filled the silent room.

"I think you better start from the beginning." And from the warmth in her tone, Dez couldn't help but pour out the real burden of what had happened, both of his friends listening intently and ready to help in anyway they could.

**-TXD-**

It had been three hours since the incident and Trish was sure she was out of tears at this point. She stared up at ceiling, her eyes still slightly red and puffy and contemplated on what she was going to do next. Was she going to have to avoid him now? How would she even be able to do so without seeing him from a far and feeling like crap all over again. The worst part about this whole situation was the fact that after really thinking about it, she was almost positive that she liked him as more than a friend and as well as hating the concept, she couldn't possibly do anything about it now - because she'd screwed that up too.

_Face it Trish, you screw up everything that's considerably great in your life at one point or another. _Her brain told her,_ Who know's what could happened next -_

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing on the left side of her bed as it rested on her bedside table. She sighed as she listened to what song was playing - 'You Don't See Me' A ringtone she had personalised just for Ally. She knew she should've seen this coming and debated on even picking up...but she also knew how Ally was and she wouldn't stop calling until she finally answered. Reluctantly, Trish picked up the ringing device and accepted the call.

"Hey Als," She greeted with as much fake enthusiasm as she could muster without sounding as if something was going on. Unbeknownst to her however, Ally had already been informed everything thanks to Dez, and so she could see - or hear rather - right through Trish's act.

"Hey Trish," She greeted back quickly before getting straight to the point. "I know about what happened between you and Dez today." Trish sighed, immediately giving up with the façade. She should've known that Dez would tell Austin and Ally at some point, and probably made her off to be the evil one in this situation. She didn't like it when Ally went all scolding mother on her and with what had happened today she definitely wasn't in the tolerable mood for it. She voiced this thought out loud.

"Ally, if you're only calling me to yell at me then -"

"I'm not calling to give you an earful Trish." She said calmly, "I want to hear your side of the story. I know you and so I know you can be a...little harsh at times, but you would never go this far for nothing." Despite how crappy she was feeling, Trish could feel a small smile growing on her lips. This was why Ally Dawson was her best friend - although, yes, she could be a scolding mother at times, she was one of the only people out there that understood her.

"I didn't...mean to go that far okay? It just sort of slipped out before I could stop it." She found herself explaining everything in grave detail, something she probably would've never done if it wasn't Ally she was talking to. Once she was finished, there was a silence on the other end of the phone. She was beginning to think Ally had hung up on her in disgust when the brunette spoke up.

"From what you just told me Trish, I think you realize what you have to do." Trish knew what she meant but after already doing it the first time she wasn't exactly keen to get the same type of reaction again.

"I've already apologised remember? And you know how hard that is for me in the first place." She sniffed, willingly the sensation of tears to stop as her mind once again wandered back to the events that had transpired after she had told him she was sorry.

"You know he didn't mean what he said Trish. He may be happy-go-lucky Dez most of the time, but even he has a breaking point." She raked her fingers through her curly hair, staring at the space in front of her.

"I guess I know that he didn't mean it Ally. It just...really hurt you know?" Then she added in a smaller voice, "Especially coming from him." From the way she had uttered the words, Ally would've pulled her friend into a tight hug if it wasn't for the obvious fact they were talking over the phone.

"It'll be okay Trish, this may seem horrible now but this thing would sort itself out." With a sigh, Trish replied.

"I really hope you're right Ally." She really,_ really_ did.

**-TXD-**

Meanwhile, across town in Austin's room, both he and Dez were perched on his bed sitting side by side, backs resting against the head board. Dez had told Austin the bits of the story that he wasn't really comfortable saying in front of Ally. Although he loved her as a friend dearly, some things were just meant to be saved for 'guy talk'.

"I just really wanted the light in her eyes to come back," He said, pretty much done explaining the story in its fullest detail. "It was like my heart was sinking or something when she looked at me like that." The deep sadness in his voice was evident, and silently, Austin once again dwelt upon how foreign it sounded when associating the emotion with Dez. He also studied the way Dez talked about Trish. It was almost as if...

"I think it's because you like her," Austin eventually said quietly, looking up from his previous stare at the wall to face his friend. Dez slowly looked back over at Austin, as if trying to process his words.

"...What?" He replied, looking as if to be feigning the look of being puzzled and very confused. Austin noted that he didn't look shocked or disgusted by his conclusion.

" I think you heard me Dez," Austin said with a small smile. "You have feelings for Trish De La Rosa." Dez stared at him for a long few moments before looking down at the bedspread they were sitting on top of and mumbling something Austin was definitely not expecting.

"I know I do."

Austin's smile grew even bigger as he watched Dez fidget with his fingers. He had at one point shuddered with Ally over the mere thought of Trish and Dez liking each other...but now, it made perfect sense. They were like the oddest perfect match in probably all of Miami.

"But that doesn't matter now anyway." Dez stopped his fidgeting and put his face in his hands, "She would never in a million _years_ give me a chance. Especially after today."

"Hey, you don't know that."

"Yes I do." Dez replied, although sounding slightly muffled thanks to his hands that were covering his face.

"How?"

"Because...because I'm just Dez!" He exclaimed, wrenching his hands away from his face. "Tall, red-headed Dez with a goofy personality." He then looked over to the window, getting lost in his thoughts. "And she's Trish, kinda scary but beautiful none the less." Austin could feel his smile reaching his lips again as he watched the blissful expression on his friends face.

"You think she's beautiful?" Dez nodded absentmindedly, his eyes still trained on the window.

"Yeah man, I do."

"Then Dez...I think you just proved you're worthy of her." Dez snapped his head away from the window to meet the brown eyes of Austin Moon.

"You really think so?" Austin punched him in the shoulder lightly.

"Would I lie to you about something like this dude?" And for the first in what felt like years, a genuine smile reached Dez's lips. Austin was more than relieved to see it back in it's rightful place.

"No, you wouldn't." He broke eye contact with Austin to stare out of the window again before speaking up with his next question.

"But...how do I get her to talk to me?" Austin patted his friend's shoulder.

"I don't think you'd have to get her to do anything. I'm pretty sure after what you told me and Ally, she's more worried about how to get _you_ to talk to_ her._" Dez once again looked over at Austin, hope shining in his blue eyes.

"Really? You really believe that?" Austin's lazy smile was now playing on his lips as he replied. "Yes Dez, I really do."

**-TXD-**

It was eleven at night after she'd settled down under her warm duvet covers when she heard it. A soft tapping sound coming from her window. Trish had been sure enough that she wouldn't get a wink of sleep that night anyway, but whatever was making that annoying thudding sound against the glass of her window was only making it worse. Already in a bad mood, she flung the covers off of her body and stomped over to the window; peering down to see what or who had a death wish?

Her heart almost stopped once her brown eyes met the blue ones of a nervous looking red headed boy with a few rocks in his hand standing directly below.

For a few long moments they just stared at each other. She looked bewildered, silently trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. He looked nervous, an anxious gleam in his eye and the small nervous smile resting on his lips displaying his emotions perfectly. It took her almost a full minute to snap out of this dazed spell he had her under upon seeing his mere presence before pushing her window up and open from the bottom of it's hinges. There was another few seconds of silence, and then he spoke.

"Hi." His nerves were seeping into his voice, that was for sure. If these were under any other circumstances she would've smiled at how cute he sounded...but they weren't and she didn't even know exactly why he was here. Was it to tell her to stay away from him? To shout at her even more. He couldn't have possibly wandered over to her house in the middle of the night just to tell her that...right?

"What...what are you doing here?" She didn't say it in a mean way, her voice sounded timid - a tone she definitely didn't like. But it was too late now and besides, she had to know exactly why he was here.

"I-I wanted to see you." He said, before biting his lip apprehensively. "We need to talk Trish." She stared at him silently. He didn't look as if he was here to banish her out of his life for good, but that didn't stop the fear and dread of anything else bad that could come out of this 'talk' from washing over her.

"...Walk over to the front door, I'll be down in a minute." She eventually decided to take the risk and moved her head away from the window, pushing it down so that it was shut again. After putting on some blue socks, she climbed down the stairs as silently as she could; careful not to wake her parents or her annoying little brother. Once at the front door, she opened it slowly, emitting a small squeak but nothing that was in danger of alarming her family members to the state of conciousness. Dez, upon hearing the sound turned around from his seat on her porch step. Their eyes met once again and he was suddenly even more nervous than he had been five minutes ago.

The things that this girl did to him.

He watched her as she quickly broke their eye contact and quietly backed the door behind her so that it wasn't fully shut. She was wearing a plain light pink tank top and matching pyjama bottoms, probably one of the plainest things he'd ever seen her wear. Her hair wasn't in curlers oddly enough, instead it was braided to one side, away from her face and it elegantly reached her back. As she walked over to his side to sit down next to him, he also couldn't help but notice the way the long braid swayed from side to side in co-ordination with each of her steps.

Beautiful really was the right word to describe her.

She sat down next to him with her hands resting on her knees. Her eyes weren't able to meet his this time as she fidgeted with her fingers.

"If you've come here to tell me that you hate me and that you don't want to be friends any more just get it over with now." Her voice was cold but the sadness was also evident. Dez could feel his insides constricting just from the mere tone of her voice.

"I'm not," He said quickly, wanting to make amends and fast. "I-I came here to...say that I'm sorry." She looked up at him then, and he could see from the shock in her eyes that she was _definitely_ not expecting that.

"_...What?_"

"I'm sorry," He said again, his eyes never leaving hers. "I never meant to hurt you Trish...well actually I guess I sort of did but...not to such an extent that I made you cry." Trish couldn't find the will in her to speak yet, so she gazed at him wordlessly and just simply listened.

"We argue over the stupidest things...a lot." He laughed quietly before continuing. "But before today it's never been that bad. I just...it hasn't been the best day for me._ You know why_...and I blew up. But it just so unfortunately happens that the person I blew up at was you and so for that...I'm sorry." She shook her head at him, looking as if she disagreed with everything he was saying.

"No," She finally spoke up now. "You shouldn't be apologising Dez, I should be. I deserved all those things you said to me and more. I know I can be a bitch sometimes but you have to know I-I didn't mean any of those things I said today. They just sort of, I don't know, they just came out of my mouth." She looked agitated, as if she didn't understand what was wrong with her.

From the thoroughly troubled look on her face Dez just wanted to take it away, and so he barely even registered what he was doing as he took her small hand in his. Trish tensed almost immediately, looking down at their clasped hands for a long moment before relaxing to the comforting feeling his hand in hers gave her.

"I know you didn't mean it." He said, using a tone that indicated that he really did know just that.

"...I'm sorry about Gary. I know how much he meant to you and I never should have said that crap about him running away." She said quietly. She watched him grimace, feeling helpless and just like he had previously, wanted to take that look away herself.

"Thanks. He's probably in a better place now anyway." He said this after keeping quiet for a few seconds and she nodded, glancing away from him quickly before turning back to meet his eyes.

"So...we're okay right?" She asked cautiously, though trying her best to sound nonchalant and not really achieving it. He smiled, his blue eyes holding the warmth that she hadn't realised she'd really missed seeing until now.

"Yeah, we're okay." She blew out a quiet, shaky breath of relief and smiled back. One of her rare lazy smiles that he noticed a long time ago she didn't just give out to anybody. She leaned in closer to him, their fingers still interlaced and a gentle breeze passing them by.

"Hey Dez?" After a few minutes of blissful silence Trish spoke up.

"Yeah?"

"I just...I just wanted to say that I'm really glad you're my friend." His warms smile grew, as he stared off into the street before them. Though a part of him was secretly wishing that 'friend' wasn't the only word she associated him with.

"I'm really glad we're friends too Trish." She shyly looked down at the ground, trying not to show that her own smile was trying to stretch out even more across her lips. Slowly, Dez looked back over at her. He took in her bashful expression and the way her lips lifted up at the corners. The way her cheekbones where defiant to her face and the rosiness that was slowly rising the same cheeks. Just staring at her was emitting butterflies in his stomach.

He couldn't stop himself from saying his next words.

"But do you ever think that..." He stopped himself from speaking, suddenly nervous again. Trish tilted her head slightly and looked up at him with her shiny brown eyes.

"Do I ever think...what?" She prompted him to continue. He couldn't look away from her but his heart was beating so fast he was sure it would explode out his chest in a matter of moments. He tried to speak again.

"That we could...ever...um." He was stammering and stuttering now, trying to find the right words to say. Trish just simply eyed him expectantly, uncharacteristically waiting patiently for him to get the words out.

"Th-That we could ever..." Why couldn't he say it? What did he have to lose? Okay, maybe a limb or two...and maybe even some teeth; but he had to take this chance. Austin had been sure he could do it, that he was worthy. And he himself wasn't sure if he could handle just admiring her from afar for much longer.

And so with that thought in his mind he he took the plunge.

With his hand still holding hers, he turned slightly so that he was facing her more properly. Then before he could chicken out he leaned in and pressed his lips lightly against hers softly. He closed his eyes, and it couldn't have been more than five seconds...but his heart definitely exploded and if he hadn't been so scared he wouldn't have pulled away. Moving back slightly, he opened his eyes to see Trish slowly opening hers just a fraction of a second later than he had. She'd somehow managed to create a look on her face that seemed to be mix of dazed and shocked crossed over.

"If we could ever be.._.that._" Even though he hadn't exactly said what he wanted to say directly, he was more than sure that she knew what he meant.

_If we could ever be more than just friends._

He waited for her expression to change back to it's normal one and as it slowly did he held in his breath. She hadn't hit him yet, in fact not even a scowl had reached her lips at this point and so he took this as a very good sign. A small barely visible smile was even on her face now. Did he dare hope this would go the way he wanted it to?

Trish was still floating in her mind. Had that actually just happened? Had Dez Fisher actually just leaned in and kissed her without any repercussion coming to him. She couldn't even think of shoving him away after feeling what had felt like pulls of electricity sucking her in. And now he had just asked her if they could ever have more than the platonic relationship they currently had.

She knew what her answer was before he'd even fully pulled his soft lips away from hers.

Slowly, she stood up without answering his question, pulling him up with the hand that was still linked with hers. Confused and slightly panicked, Dez stared down at her from his now official height with anticipation. Trish's barely visible smile turned into a full grown smirk as she took his other hand in hers so that now both of their hands were being held by each other. Then, before Dez knew what was going on, Trish stood on her tip-toes and leaned up to press a soft kiss to his cheek. A very long, slow kiss that lingered on much longer than a kiss on the cheek would usually be expected to. And reluctantly pulling away she whispered into his ear.

"We'll see, freckles. We'll see."

Dez, however had known her long enough to realize that was Trish code for one thing and one thing only: yes.

And with that she finally released his hands, backing away from him and sauntering over to her front door without another word. He stared after her, and even long after she'd gone inside her house he continued to do so.

Because he was sure that even if he looked away, the huge grin present on his face wasn't going to go away anytime soon. Not by a long shot.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

And that's it folks. I hope you liked the ending and didn't think it was too mushy for Trish and Dez or anything. I wanted a little romance in the story and besides, they are OOC in this one anyway so it can be excused right? Haha.

Moving on to why this is up so late; there is more than one reason actually. I accidentally deleted almost all of this chapter by accident - TWICE. And after rewriting it the second time and having it delete itself I was just too angry to even think about re-writing again. But of course, I didn't wan to leave you guys hanging so I sucked it up and re-wrote _again_. And sadly, I don't think it's as amazing as the first try.

Also, the internet was being an evil female dog. I'm sure you know what I'm trying to say politely lol.

Anyway, to end things on a good note thank you so much for taking the time to read, and please leave a review if you think this was worthy of your time. Oh, and once again - requests are appreciated! :D


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